


Maybe the World is Big Enough

by orphan_account



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Hawkguy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-22
Updated: 2014-04-22
Packaged: 2018-01-20 10:59:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1508051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Kate Bishop lands in the hospital after being injured in battle, Clint thinks about what he could have done to help her and the things he's said to her. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Very mush.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maybe the World is Big Enough

"Barton, Bishop's been injured." Maria Hill's voice sounded strained.

"Why are you calling me? Doesn't she have a family?" Clint said drinking his beer.

"Clinton, I swear to god, if you don't get your ass down here I will take one of those pretty arrows and shove it up your ass." Maria said in a small, but scary voice.

"On my way." Clint hung up and sat there for a second. What did she want from Clint now? Wasn't enough that she had taken his arrow? His bows? His fucking name? What more did she need?

_"You just have to watch her, Clint." Steve said to him. "She's amazing, she's practically self trained. I think she could be on the team if she had the proper training..."_

_Clint looked at Steve like he was crazy._

_"She's a kid." Clint said._

_"I'm not a fan of the Young Avengers being a team and fighting, but these kids have great potential. We'll need them one day."_

_"We already have replacements lined up? What if they grow up and decide not to be Avengers, this is Katherine Bishop we're talking about. Her father's some millionaire, you can't tell me she's throwing her life away to be a superhero?  Shouldn't her mom be putting her in those fancy princess pageants?" Clint fought._

 

_"Mrs. Bishop was killed a few years ago. She taught her daughter how to use their wealth and good name the right way, also how to play the cello."  Steve defended._

_"What about her dad?" he asked._

_"Remarried and left Kate while he and his new wife are on a tour of the world. Kate's sister disowned her after the wedding incident. She lives with Cassie Lang most of the time." Steve said soberly._

_"Cassie Lang? You're kidding. She couldn't wait a few years? She's practically on the waiting list for the team?"_

_"So why shouldn't Kate?" Steve said._

_"This world isn't big enough for two Hawkeyes."  Clint said loudly._

_An arrow hit the plastic wall separating the training room and Clint. Clint turned to see Katherine Bishop with another bow loaded aimed at his head. He looked at Steve who red. Kate walked up the stairs and into the room._

_"'The world isn't big enough for two Hawkeyes?'" she was fuming._

_Clint stared at her in shock._

_"Kate, it's not worth it. Come on," Eli Bradley tried pulling her away, but she shook him off._

_"The world might not be big enough for two Hawkeyes now, but in a few years it will be? Where will you be then?" Kate said over the boy picking her up and carrying her out of the room._

_"That's almost exactly what Bobbi said to me when she left me." he rolled his eyes._

Clint arrived at the hospital and found Maria, who looked worried. If Maria could, she'd probably take time to train Kate to be a mini-Maria.

"Thank god you're here." she got up and lead Clint up to the ICU. Bad news. "She's not improving."

"What was it?" Clint said following her.

Maria stopped in the hallway and looked at him. He thought she might cry.

"Kate was hit by a bullet to the chest. When she fell she hit her head and has a serious concussion. She's lost so much blood, Clint. We can't contact her dad, we couldn't even if we had his information. He hasn't talked to her since her sister's wedding."

"Where is she?" Clint asked.

Maria led him down the hallway to a room full of kids. A tearful Cassie Lang holding Katherine's hand, Eli Bradley watching over her trying to keep it together, a Pietro Maximoff look-alike at her feet, and a few others in the corner looking worried and talking to a nurse. Fury was in the corner watching her monitor. Clint stopped in the door, his jaw dropped when he saw her. She looked so small in the hospital bed, just like in the movies. IV's and other cords all over her. He was sure she was the type to rip them off when she woke up. He walked over to Fury, Maria stood on the other side of Kate and looked at the kids with sympathy.

"This is bad, real bad." Fury said.

"Do we know who shot her?" Clint asked.

"HYDRA agent. Looking to recruit the kids." Fury growled.

"Why them?" he whispered.

"Why not? They're almost as dangerous as we are. Pretty valuable too." Fury said looking at the kids.

"I guess I just haven't been paying attention." Clint mumbled.

"You and the other Avengers, some day we'll need these kids." Fury told him.

"Yeah, I know."

_Clint had just given up his bow to a teenage girl. But she was one hell of an archer. She had won it fair and square. But it still didn't make it right. This girl was old enough to be his daughter technically, but he had a kid. A kid he'd never see. He wasn't supposed to be a dad, he wasn't in the right field of work to be a dad. His dad died, leaving him an orphan. What if Clint died? He might as well be dead to him. Clint wasn't the kind of person you would make a dad or even a guardian. That's why he wanted nothing to do with those kids. He was still growing up. His phone rang, waking him up from his thoughts._

_"Hullo?" he answered._

_"Want to help me with something?" It was Natasha's voice. She was in trouble. He was out the door before she could say where she was._

_That's what he did for her. He'd do almost anything for her. She'd do anything for him. It wasn't just paying off debts anymore._

"Nat, where are you right now?" he called her.

"On my way to the hospital." she yelled something in Russian to the cab driver. "Maria said you were there, I figured you needed some company."

"Company would be nice." he said thanking her.

"I'm there. Meet me?" she asked.

"On my way."

There she was in all her glory, the way he liked her. Red hair messy from a fight and minimal makeup. She was wearing the necklace he gave her as a birthday gift. He didn't think she'd still wear it.

"How is she?" Natasha asked.

"Not good." Clint reported, he led her the way Maria led him but this time Natasha walked next to him.

"Oh my god." she gasped when she saw Katherine.

Cassie Lang looked up at her she let go of Kate's hand and wiped her tears. They all looked at Natasha.

"I'm so sorry this happened." Natasha looked at them. The kids looked at her.

"We are too," Cassie spoke up. "It's our fault."

"It's not your fault." Fury said. "There was nothing you or any of you could have done."

"I could have ran and got her. I've done it thousands of times before. I could have caught her." Tommy said.

"You were busy yourself." Fury pointed at a gash the boy had in his arm.

"Is there anything the doctors can do?" Eli asked.

"They've done all they could. It's up to her now." Fury said looking at Katherine.

"That's not fair." Cassie said. "What if she doesn't wake up? What if she can't? I can't- we can't lose her. She's our leader. She's our friend. I can't imagine a world without her." More tears left her eyes and one of the boys from the corner put his arms around her.

Clint saw it all now, these kids were all each other had. They weren't just a team, they were a family. Kate was the Peter Pan to their Lost Boys. She was loved. A nurse came in to check on her, Kate's machine went crazy.

"What's going on?!" Cassie cried.

"She's unstable. Everyone clear out, only family." the nurse called the other doctors.

"No, we're staying, we're family." Cassie tried to say, but Eli carried her off.

Fury left with Natasha and Maria stayed. Clint was frozen. The doctors worked on her and after an eternity, they left. Maria wiped tears away and a doctor asked if Maria if she was Kate's mother. Maria nodded. Clint figured Maria had told them this when she brought Kate. Clint was alone with Kate.

"Hey, Katie? I mean, Kate. You gotta wake up. You're too young. You've got your team, your friends. They can't do this without you. they need you. Fury needs you, Maria too. I need you. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I should have trained you. I could have trained you and this never would have happened. Those kids, they think it's their fault. It's not. It's mine. I should have believed in you more. I always did, I should have told you. I was scared. You terrify me. I promise, as you as you get better, I'll take you away from here. You don't have to worry about your dad or your sister. I'll train you. You'll be better than me, and that'll be okay with me, because at least we'll be a team. You and me, even your friends. I'll train them too. I'll never let you get hurt again." Clint wiped tears off his face.

Maria stood there and went over to hug him, she let him. Kate woke up slowly, she looked drugged and confused.

"She'll be okay." the doctor told them. "Don't worry, she's fighter."

"I know." Clint looked at her too. She wasn't the Katherine Bishop she used to be in his eyes. She was more. She always was more, though. He just never saw it.

 

 

 

Kate fully recovered. Kate and Clint got into an argument. Clint went on his own for awhile. He needed to get away for a while. He got word about what happened to the Young Avengers, Cassie Lang died. Kate was inconsolable. PTSD they said. She was on medication, and trained more than slept. They watched her carefully.

He called her and asked if she wanted to move in so he could train with her.

"I thought this world wasn't big enough for two Hawkeye?" she reminded him.

"It isn't. Who cares what the world thinks."

And that is how it began.

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
